BAIMA, GIOVANNI

BAIMA, GIOVANNI. – Born in Pinerolo on 17 January 1817, died in Rome on 6 April 1881. He made his profession among the Oblates of the Virgin Mary on 2 August 1833 and departed for the mission of Ava and Pegù, of which he was appointed apostolic vicar. He was consecrated bishop on 25 April 1849 in Calcutta. Exhausted by the extremely harsh climate and the hardships, he had to return to Europe in April 1856. There he was entrusted with substituting for the exiled archbishop of Turin, Mons. Fransoni, and, occasionally, for the bishops whose sees had been left vacant owing to government opposition in a large part of the dioceses of Piedmont, until 1867. Appointed primate of Sardinia, he left Turin on 27 December 1871 for Cagliari, where for a decade he carried out fruitful work of religious renewal.